By Jan Petter Myklebust and Ian R Dobson. The board of the University of Helsinki, the oldest and largest university in the country, is to cut 1,200 out of 8,200 staff posts, a measure of how Finnish universities are being hit by the effects of the government’s austerity programme. Read more...

By Michael Gardner. Germany’s Student Welfare Service, or DSW, has warned that the refugee crisis could worsen prospects for students on the housing market. With enrolment numbers set to peak once again, the DSW insists that the government provide funding for additional student accommodation. Read more...

By Suchitra Behal. A landmark bill that would allow the famed Indian Institutes of Management, or IIMs, to award MBAs and PhDs – making qualifications internationally recognisable – has been sent back to the drafting table, following widespread criticism of its clauses. Read more...

By Mary Beth Marklein. International students continue to fuel enrolment growth at US graduate schools, a study out last week by the US Council of Graduate Schools found. Read more...

By Geoff Maslen. In interviews last Monday morning, new premier Malcolm Turnbull signalled that the government would review its higher education proposals. Read more...

By Hiep Pham. Vietnam will rank all universities in one of three tiers from next month as part of the education ministry’s bid to improve quality at each level. Read more...

By Jo Beall. Universities are the anchors, shapers and innovators of nations. Universities also provide the mechanisms for building and rebuilding nations. During the independence period, African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah believed that higher education would be critical to development and growth. Read more...

By Savo Heleta. One of the main roles of education in general and higher education in particular is to build human capital for socio-economic development, empowerment, eradication of poverty and good governance. Universities are places where critical thinkers, government administrators, technicians, scientists, doctors, teachers and civil servants are developed. Read more...

By Nicola Jenvey. Language was the most powerful instrument for preserving and developing a tangible heritage, while learning in a mother tongue boosted people’s abilities to succeed in their education, according to Professor Herbert Chimhundu, chair of the Centre for Language and Communication Studies at Chinhoyi University of Technology in Zimbabwe. Read more...

By Nicola Jenvey. A transformation policy for higher education introducing flexibility into the undergraduate degree time frame failed to see how the solution was merely reproducing the social inequalities it sought to address, according to Dr Lester Brian Shawa, a senior lecturer in higher education training and development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Read more...